Mutual Funds Lite framework introduces a relaxed regulatory regime for passive funds, easing compliance and simplifying disclosures.
The Mutual Funds Lite framework creates a lighter regulatory regime for specified passively managed schemes-index funds, ETFs, FoFs and eligible overseas passive funds-limiting phase one eligibility to designated domestic equity and debt indices, gold and silver ETFs and single-underlying overseas funds. It prescribes sponsor eligibility and conduct safeguards (including private equity sponsor criteria, lock-in of initial capital and restrictions on related-party off-market transactions), reallocates governance duties between trustees and AMC boards with certain trustee committee relaxations, and simplifies disclosure, filing and investment scope while maintaining targeted transparency measures such as tracking difference and Debt Index Replication Factor disclosures.

Integrated Filing consolidates governance and financial quarterly disclosures for listed entities, with specified timelines and auditor restrictions.
Integrated Filing consolidates specified governance and financial periodic filings into two quarterly formats-Integrated Filing (Governance) and Integrated Filing (Financial)-with timelines of 30 days for governance and 45 days (60 days for year-end) for financial filings; it prescribes quarterly disclosure items (including certain acquisitions, low-threshold fines and tax litigation updates), requires quantification of ratified related party transactions in financial filings, updates Master Circular formats into Annexure 1, substitutes Annexure 18A with Annexure 5 for timelines, and clarifies Secretarial Auditor disqualifications and prohibited services.

Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework compliance extended with regulatory forbearance and data localisation provisions held in abeyance.
The circular clarifies CSCRF compliance: regulatory forbearance is granted for non compliance during the forbearance period if entities can demonstrate meaningful implementation steps and will be given an opportunity to show progress before any regulatory action. Compliance dates for KYC registration agencies and depository participants are extended to a later date, and the Data Localisation provisions of the Data Security Standard (PR.DS.S2) are held in abeyance pending further consultations. The clarifications are effective immediately.

Bank Realization Certificate compliance required to avoid drawback recovery and interest following unrealised export proceeds.
Non-realisation of export proceeds identified via the RBI-BRC module has prompted a compliance drive requiring exporters to submit Bank Realization Certificates (BRCs) or repay sanctioned drawback amounts with applicable interest. Affected shipping bills and exporter lists are published online; valid e BRCs submitted to the dedicated BRC Cell will be verified and cases closed expeditiously. Exporters may use ICEGATE and SB EDPMS enquiries for verification and rectification. Failure to comply will trigger system alerts and recovery proceedings for drawback with interest.

Auto renewal of customs broker licences secures lifetime validity unless revoked; EDI records updated to reflect this change.
Auto renewal under CBIC Notification No. 62/2021 confirms lifetime validity of customs broker licences unless revoked under regulatory revocation provisions, and that a licence is deemed invalid if the licensee is inactive for one year. Mumbai has updated EDI records to reflect lifetime validity for licences operating under regulation 7(2) after earlier Public Notice implementation gaps; stakeholders should report any difficulties to the Customs Broker Section.

Transshipment permission to FedEx via Blue Dart granted until 31.12.2025 with Rs60 crore bond and strict customs conditions.
Permission is granted to M/s FedEx to transship imported goods from New Courier Terminal, Delhi to specified Indian air cargo ports through M/s Blue Dart Aviation Ltd until 31.12.2025, subject to a Transshipment Bond of Rs.60,00,00,000/-, Blue Dart's bank guarantee exemption (unless withdrawn), and procedural and security conditions including specific manifesting, segregation reports, transfer to a TP Godown under customs supervision with double locks, customs sealing and X ray screening, filing CTMs/applications, destination acknowledgements within 10 days to recredit the bond, and submission of a customs certificate of safe delivery within 15 days to discharge the bond.

Foreign Contribution TDS refunds: proportionate FC refunds may be returned to FCRA accounts and treated as other income.
When a consolidated income tax refund is received in a non FCRA bank account, the proportionate share attributable to Foreign Contribution must be transferred back to the FCRA bank account; such transfer is permitted and not treated as contravening the Act. For accounting, TDS at deduction may be recorded as utilization of FC and, upon refund receipt in the FCRA account, recognized as other income and reported in the designated disclosure field of the FCRA return.

GST classification clarifications set rates for specified goods, exclude larger agricultural packages, and regularize past interpretational issues.
Solar cookers operating on solar energy and grid electricity, all sprinklers including fire water sprinklers, and parts of poultry-keeping machinery attract GST at 12%. Agricultural farm produce supplied in packages exceeding 25 kilograms or 25 litres is excluded from "pre-packaged and labelled" and does not attract the 5% GST levy. Past-period classification issues are regularized on an "as is where is" basis. Regularization for specified government distribution supplies requires certification and reversal of relevant input tax credit.

GST treatment of railway, insurance, digital-payment and accommodation services clarifies exemptions, subsidy character, retrocession coverage and past-liability regularisation.
GST exemptions and regularisation apply to specified railway services, railway special-purpose-vehicle infrastructure arrangements, statutory collections by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, qualifying reinsurance and accommodation services. Railway public-facing and inter-zonal services, and specified railway infrastructure and maintenance arrangements, receive exemption with past liability regularised on an "as is where is" basis. Incentives shared in the prescribed digital-payment ecosystem retain the character of subsidy and are not taxable. Reinsurance includes retrocession. Qualifying accommodation services are exempt where prescribed value and continuous-stay conditions are met, with prior liability regularised on the same basis.

Electronic CSD GST refunds require validated supplier invoices, return compliance, input tax credit reversal, and portal-based processing within prescribed timelines.
CSD must file electronic refund claims in FORM GST RFD-10A for fifty per cent of applicable tax paid on eligible inward supplies for subsequent supply to Unit Run Canteens or authorised customers. Eligibility requires registered-supplier tax invoices, supplier reporting in FORM GSTR-1, supplier filing of FORM GSTR-3B, and declarations against duplicate claims. Claims must be filed within two years from the last day of the relevant quarter. Portal validation matches invoices with FORM GSTR-2B, excludes previously refunded invoices, and permits only downward revision of the auto-populated eligible amount. Input tax credit reversal must also be verified.

Additional IGST refund claims after export price increases require electronic filing, evidence, tax payment verification, and compliance checks.
Additional Integrated Tax paid with applicable interest following an upward revision in the price of exported goods may be claimed electronically in FORM GST RFD-01 and processed by the exporter's jurisdictional GST officer. Eligibility requires export and invoice records, evidence supporting the price revision, debit notes or supplementary invoices, proof of tax and interest payment, outward-supply reporting, additional foreign-exchange remittance, and professional certification. The proper officer must verify these requirements and also confirm deposit of any proportionate excess refund arising from a downward post-export price revision.

Corporate guarantee valuation governs related-party GST based on guarantee amount, term, consideration, and input-tax-credit availability.
Corporate guarantees between related persons were taxable before Rule 28(2), which governs valuation rather than taxability. The service is valued on the guaranteed amount, not actual loan disbursal. Its value is one per cent per annum of the guarantee amount or actual consideration, whichever is higher, with proportionate valuation for shorter terms and separate valuation upon renewal. Domestic guarantees follow forward charge, while guarantees by overseas related entities to Indian recipients follow reverse charge. Full input tax credit permits invoice value to be deemed the value of supply, and Rule 28(2) does not apply to exports.

Pre-deposit protection suspends recovery of confirmed GST demands pending tribunal operation when taxpayers pay and undertake timely appeal.
Pending operationalisation of the Appellate Tribunal, recovery of the balance confirmed demand stands stayed where a taxpayer pays an amount equal to the prescribed pre-deposit through the electronic liability register and undertakes to file the Tribunal appeal within the applicable timeline. Failure to pay the equivalent pre-deposit, furnish the undertaking, or timely file the appeal permits recovery. Amounts inadvertently paid through FORM GST DRC-03 may, on filing FORM GST DRC-03A, be adjusted against the relevant demand and counted towards appellate pre-deposit, subject to stated conditions.

Voucher transactions not a supply under GST; underlying redemptions taxable, agent commissions and ancillary services taxable.
Transactions in vouchers are not themselves taxable supplies: where a voucher qualifies as an RBI recognised pre paid instrument it is treated as money, and where not so recognised it is an actionable claim; in both cases vouchers are neither supply of goods nor supply of services, while redemption of vouchers for underlying goods or services remains taxable. Principal to principal trading in vouchers is not leviable to GST, agent commissions/fees are taxable as services, ancillary services are taxable, and amounts attributable to unredeemed vouchers (breakage) are not taxable.

Place of supply of online services: suppliers must record recipient State on invoices, making recipient location the supply point.
Suppliers of online/digital services, including OIDAR services and supplies via electronic commerce operators, must record the State name of unregistered recipients on the tax invoice irrespective of value; that State name shall be deemed the recipient's address on record for determining the place of supply under section 12(2)(b) of the IGST Act, making the recipient's location the place of supply. Suppliers must collect recipient State details prior to supply, report recipient location in outward supplies in Form GSTR 1/1A, and may face penalties for non compliance.

Input tax credit availability: deemed receipt at supplier's premises allows claiming credit under Ex Works delivery, subject to entitlement conditions.
A registered person is deemed to have received goods where the supplier delivers them to a recipient or any other person on the recipient's direction, including handing goods to a transporter at the supplier's premises; under Ex Works contracts this means a dealer may avail input tax credit when the OEM hands vehicles to the transporter at the factory gate, subject to entitlement conditions such as use in the course of business and denial where goods are diverted or later lost, stolen, destroyed, written off, gifted or supplied as free samples.

Input tax credit rules: electronic commerce operators cannot use ITC to discharge notified-supplier liabilities and must pay from cash ledger.
Where an electronic commerce operator is liable to pay tax as if it were the supplier of notified services supplied through its platform, it is not required to reverse input tax credit proportionately for inputs and input services used for such notified supplies. The input tax credit availed for such inputs and input services cannot be utilised to discharge the tax liability arising from the notified supplies, which must be paid through the electronic cash ledger. However, that credit may be used to discharge tax liabilities in respect of supplies made by the ECO on its own account.

Extension of due date for belated and revised income tax returns - resident individuals granted additional filing time.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, exercising powers under section 119 of the Income tax Act, extends the last date for furnishing belated returns under sub section (4) of section 139 and revised returns under sub section (5) of section 139 for resident individuals, moving the prior deadline to a later specified date and directing that the extended date be treated as the operative filing deadline for those taxpayers.

Export authorisations for restricted seeds require specified affidavits, declaration of chemical treatment and compliance with seed licensing.
The SOP requires applicants for export authorisations of Restricted Seeds and Planting Materials to submit product specifications, raw material details and affidavits confirming no use of Indian germplasm and compliance with the Biological Diversity Act. Exports as seed quality demand a Seed Control Order dealer license, declaration of chemical treatment and labelling that seeds are not for consumption; non-sowing exports require an affidavit that material is not breeder/foundation/certified seed and is for consumption only.

Import authorisation requirement for low ash metallurgical coke mandates country-wise applications and documentation, with QR allocations and monitoring.
Country-wise quantitative restrictions on low ash metallurgical coke require prior import authorisation filed per supplier country on the DGFT portal with three years of import data, current year imports and source, and production capacity and actual production figures; quantities must cover the full restriction period. A Special Exim Facilitation Committee will allocate quarterly quantities, permit adjustments between quarters for excess or unutilised imports, and require first-quarter utilisation statements and surrender details. Mis-declaration leads to disqualification and DGFT may amend procedures at any time.